Vanguard Charitable’s donations to philanthropic causes continued a five-year rise with a 14 percent increase in grant dollars distributed during 2015, Vanguard announced Tuesday.

The donor advised fund gave more than $717 million to charity last year, the organization’s largest granting year ever. The dollars represented more than 64,000 grants to 28,000 charities. An average of $60,000 was granted from each donor-advised account. Of the charities receiving grants, 7,000 were first time recipients, Vanguard says.

The three categories receiving the largest donations were education at 27 percent, human services at 23 percent and religion at 13 percent, which is consistent with overall giving in the United States.

“Strategic giving is crucial when considering philanthropic impact, and providing stability during volatile funding periods can help nonprofits keep the lights on to support their missions,” says Vanguard.